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Apple is working on possible Future Vision-Related Headsets that will provide Tunable Lenses and offer new Sensors

11 AAA cover VISION PRO RELATED

Today the U.S. Patent Office published a patent application of Apple's that relates to future Apple Vision-type headsets that may include an optical module with a display and a tunable lens.

Head-mounted devices typically include lenses with fixed shapes and properties. If care is not taken, it may be difficult to adjust these types of lenses to optimally present content to each user of the head-mounted device.

Apple's invention relates to future HMDs that may include a head-mounted support structure, a lens module coupled to the head-mounted support structure and comprising a catadioptric lens and a tunable lens, and a display that is viewable through the lens module.

The HMD may include a head-mounted support structure, a lens module coupled to the head-mounted support structure and comprising a tunable lens and a Fresnel lens element, and a display that is viewable through the lens module.

The headset may include a head-mounted support structure, a catadioptric lens module coupled to the head-mounted support structure and comprising a tunable lens element, a partially reflective layer, a quarter wave plate, and a reflective polarizer, and a display that is viewable through the catadioptric lens module.

The headset may include a head-mounted support structure and an optical module coupled to the head-mounted support structure. The optical module may include a waveguide having first and second opposing sides, a display that is configured to emit light into the waveguide, a negative bias lens on the first side of the waveguide, and an adjustable positive bias lens on the second side of the waveguide.

The headset may include an optical module that may include a display, a partially reflective layer, a tunable lens element, and a reflective layer with a surface having concave curvature.

The optical module may include a display, a partially reflective layer, and a tunable lens element that is interposed between the display and the partially reflective layer.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device that presents an HMD with many sensors and some of them new such a touch sensors, gas sensors, heart rate monitor and more.

2 Apple patent figs - tunable lens system
Apple's patent FIGS. 21A and 21B above are side views of an illustrative optical module with a fluid control component that adjusts the thickness of a fluid-filled chamber in a tunable lens; FIG. 23 is a flowchart of an illustrative method for operating an electronic device with a tunable lens.

For full details, review Apple's patent application 20250020926 and 20250020910.

The U.S. Patent Office also published HMD patent application 20250020941titled "Electronic Device Displays With Lenses And Color Filters' that you could review in full here. Apple's patent abstract states:

"An electronic device may include a stereoscopic display that is configured to display three-dimensional content for a viewer. The stereoscopic display may include a lenticular lens film with lenticular lenses that extend across the length of the display and may be referred to as a lenticular display. The lenticular display may have convex curvature. The lenticular display may include a color filter layer with color filters and an opaque masking layer. The color filter layer may be interposed between the lenticular lens film and an array of display pixels for the display. The color filter layer may mitigate ghost image artifacts and reflections of ambient light. Microlenses may be included between the lenticular lens film and the array of display pixels to improve the efficiency of the display. The display may include a Fresnel lens layer. The lenticular lens film may include lenticular lenses having different shapes. "

10.51FX - Patent Application Bar